The President signed an executive order on June 3, 2026, shifting senior policy-influencing positions into the excepted service’s Schedule Policy/Career classification. The official text of Executive Order 14410 was released in the Federal Register on June 10, 2026, outlining administrative changes for the federal workforce.
The order states the transfer is intended to increase accountability in policy-making, policy-determining, and policy-advocating positions. According to the document, the President relies on these executive branch employees to help execute laws and advance priorities.
The order states that existing adverse action procedures make removals for poor performance or misconduct difficult. The document cites reports that barely two-fifths of federal supervisors believe they could remove subordinates who engage in serious misconduct, while only a quarter think they could dismiss serious underperformers.
Schedule Policy/Career positions are exempt from those adverse action procedures, the order says. The document notes the classification was created by earlier executive orders and that hiring for these career positions is based on merit rather than political affiliation.
Agency heads were given seven days from the order’s signing to inform affected workers about their placement and update agency records. Furthermore, each agency head must petition the director to recommend that the President place in Schedule Policy/Career any competitive service, Schedule A, Schedule B, or Schedule D positions they determine to have a policy-influencing character that are not normally subject to change during a presidential transition.
The directive requires agencies to establish distinct bonus pools using existing award authorities to recognize outstanding work by Schedule Policy/Career employees. The Office of Personnel Management director must also initiate rulemaking to create a Presidential award program for the group.
The document updates several Civil Service Rules, including a provision that individuals appointed to Schedule Policy/Career are not subject to trial periods. The Office of Personnel Management director has 60 days to prepare revisions removing obsolete sections of the civil service rules. The order amends past directives, including Executive Orders 13957, 14171, 13562, and 14217.